Are you doing all you can to build a powerful, effective online presence? Creative Capital's Professional Development Program (PDP) Core Leaders Jackie Battenfield and Aaron Landsman have excellent advice on how you can make sure you're using the right digital tools to showcase your talents. Their Artist’s Tools Handbook was the foundation for this post.

Your website is the sun.

All your social media must revolve around it. Make sure to include embedded links as well as hyperlinks. For example, on Facebook, paste your website's URL address into your status update. Your post becomes an embedded link which leads directly back to your website. On Tumblr you can use hyperlinks in your descriptions. Hyperlink your website's keywords for search engine optimization (SEO).

Pick your social media platforms like you pick your friends.

What kind of artist are you? Performance? Video? Then you must have a Vimeo page or YouTube channel. Photographer? Picasa is for you. Are your processes important to your practice? Keep a tally of it on Tumblr. You want to make sure whichever platform you chose is updated on a regular basis so people have reasons to visit you again and again. And everyone needs to be on Instagram these days. Hop to it!

Make sure to title & tag

Always include titles, descriptions, hashtags and tags (keywords) for your work. This helps people to find you. Use tags that accurately describe your work, and include locations, names of people or places, technical details, etc. Here’s more on hashtags.

Your voice is as important as your images

It seems really easy to link your Twitter to your Instagram account so that photos are automatically uploaded to your feed. But did you know that this may mean that your posts on could be read as SPAM? Take the time to re-post your images and write a catchy, thoughtful caption to better engage your audience. This goes for all social media platforms. Each one should have its own distinct role.

Ask yourself these questions on a regular basis:

Is my online presence making the business of my art easier and more effective?  

Is my Internet activity supporting and reflecting my larger goals for my work?

How can my work best live online?

The Internet is the place for show and tell, where you can share without physical interaction. Make sure your Internet presence is representative of your work and your voice in your “absence.” Use thee questions above to assess what’s working and what you can improve on.

The web is constantly evolving so it’s important to stay flexible and up-to-date on the newest social media platforms and apps.

Remember, it is what you’re creating in your studio that is the most important thing so every decision you make in terms of your web presence should strengthen and advertise the heart and soul of your career -- your artwork